On Thirteenth Street in front of the Sacramento Convention Center where the Democratic Convention was being held on May 20, a group of activists held a mock “tug of war" between the people of California and the oil industry for the loyalty of Governor Jerry Brown. The skit depicted the contradiction between Jerry Brown the “climate leader,” who appeals to his Democratic base by preaching against climate change and for green energy, and the other guy, “Big Oil Brown,” who supports the expansion of fracking in California and the construction of the Delta Tunnels — and has received millions in contributions from the oil and energy industries.

But the tug of war was over more than just over the loyalty of Jerry Brown, torn between the people and the oil industry. It was, on a deeper level, about California’s contradictory role as an “environmental leader” with some good laws, on one hand, and then its role as the nation’s third biggest oil producer, with some of the dirtiest and fouled air and waterways in the country, on the other hand.

Hundreds of activists, including around 50 Democratic Party delegates carrying colorful signs and banners, participated in the historic “Oil Money Out, People Power In” march and rally in Sacramento, on May 20. They demanded that politicians stop taking money from the oil industry, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento.